Chief Donatus Agu-Ejidike JP, has mourned the deceased Chairman of the Igbo Traders Football Association, Nze Igiri Joseph, who died on Friday, December 20th 2024. Igiri died as a result of a protracted illness.

Ejidike, who is Nigeria's Pillar of Sports, in a condolence message he personally signed and made available to Exclusivenews.com.ng, described Igiri, who was until his death, a prominent and an active member of the Office of the Nigeria's Pillar of Sports (ONPS), as a man whose name was synonymous with hard work, dedication, and passion. 

Members of the ONPS also expressed their condolences, describing the late ITFA boss as 'irreplaceable'. 

Chairman of the ONPS, Prince Ajide Olayioye said Igiri was 'one man you could delegate a task to, and go to sleep with the full assurance that he would deliver with a high sense of integrity that is very rare'. 

Ejidike who is a former President of the Karate Federation of Nigeria, KFN, added that Igiri's death has created a vacuum in his office that would be very difficult, if not impossible, to fill. 

The death of Igiri who, until he fell sick was the Welfare  Officer of the NNL side ABS Ilorin FC, has attracted reactions from different football stakeholders in the State, with all talking about how much he applied himself to whatever cause he believes, with every sense of diligence and responsibility.

Among his business colleagues, at Baboko and Agaka in Ilorin, as a motor spare parts dealer, the Ebonyi-born football administrator, who was popularly known as "Igiri Network" attracts nothing but positive testimonies which show that, he would be sorely missed by all, including the entire Igbo community in Kwara State. 

Ejidike prayed for the repose of the soul of the deceased, and grant the family he left behind, the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss. 

The Anambra-born Sports philanthropist also expressed condolences to Igiri's very close friends, an age-long friend and Director of Football ABS FC Chief Alloy Chukwuemeka, as he praised his consistency in his friendship with the deceased.